Amateur Distractions

  • Restoration or Something Else

    A trip to a Kemerdere with Pat Yale and how it looks after its renovation.


  • Celebrate All the Things

    Finally, after years of pointless hoping, I finally entered the Novel Fair run by the Irish Writer’s Centre.


  • Following Miss Yale

    A number of years ago my friend Pat came to visit Çanakkale. I was delighted to be able to take her to Troy and show her around the area.


  • Aspiration

    Generally at the beginning of August each year I decide to enter the Novel Fair run by the Irish Writers Centre. It only requires a summary of 300 words and 10,000 words. The fact that I have no idea, no plot, no characters, is never enough to dissuade me from the attempt. There’s a whole…


  • Lower Decks

    What a delight! Funny, madcap, weird and yet still true to Star Trek. Boimler is just the right amount of annoying, Mariner is just the right amount of slacker. Tendi has a core of steel and Rutherford is sweet.